A Light Burning Bright
by clavina
Summary: Twelve days before K-day; the world knew of no one else but themselves. Two young female pilots were about to set out on normal training mission that was going to change their lives and their families forever. This is the story of how the normality of the entire world was changed...with the emergence of the Breach and the Kaiju. Characters: Luna /Stacker Pentecost, Tamsin Sevier


**A Light Burning Bright**

**(**This is meant to be before K-day and centres mostly on Luna Pentecost and Tamsin Sevier and a bit on Stacker Pentecost. Characters are from Pacific Rim: Tales from Year Zero and from the Movie Pacific Rim.

I do not own these characters or the show or book they come from. I do not own the song either.

The song below is from Shinedown and is called 'Burning bright'.

Please read and enjoy !)

**Chapter One**

"_I feel like there is no need for conversation  
Some questions are better left without a reason  
And I would rather reveal myself than my situation  
Now and then I consider my hesitation_

_The more the light shines through me  
I pretend to close my eyes  
The more the dark consumes me  
I pretend I'm burning, burning bright_

_I wonder if the things I did were just to be different  
To spare myself of the constant shame of my existence  
And I would surely redeem myself in my desperation  
Here and now I'll express my situation_

_The more the light shines through me  
I pretend to close my eyes  
The more the dark consumes me  
I pretend I'm burning bright  
The more the light shines through me  
I pretend to close my eyes  
The more the dark consumes me  
I pretend I'm burning_

_There's nothing ever wrong, but nothing's ever right  
Such a cruel contradiction  
I know I crossed the line, it's not easy to define  
I'm born to indecision  
There's always something new, some path I'm supposed to choose  
With no particular rhyme or reason_

_The more the light shines through me  
I pretend to close my eyes  
The more the dark consumes me  
I pretend I'm burning bright  
The more the light shines through me  
I pretend to close my eyes  
The more the dark consumes me  
I pretend I'm burning_

_I feel like there is no need for conversation"_

_Song by Shinedown, title: Burning Bright._

JULY 28TH 2013; 0830HRS...

"Wakey, wakey! Princess Pentecost!"

The slim dark-skinned young woman in a flight suit with the British flag on her left arm smiled before opening her eyes and removing her head phones.

She looked up at the owner of the extremely loud and cheerful voice which also hid a trait of mischief.

"About time you got here Tasmin," said Squadron leader Luna Pentecost softly.

The red-haired and green-eyed slim female who was also wearing a flight suit with a British flag snorted. "And end up waiting for God-knows-how long? Please; we all know our transport is going to be late as usual!"

Luna sighed wearily and shook her head. It was useless arguing with her flight partner who was also her best friend and who she and her brother viewed as a 'sister'.

"That's not the point; we're RAF; we're supposed to be early."

"Whatever, by the by what are you listening to?" asked Lieutenant TamsinSevier as she flopped down bonelessly beside Luna.

Luna responded by showing her the name on her ipod.

Tasmin saw the track and sighed; to which Luna grinned widely.

"I should have guessed; 'Burning bright by Shinedown.'

For the one hundredth time I suppose; you must have the lyrics seared on your brain by now."

Luna shrugged as she wound the cord around the ipod and tucked it into her breast pocket. She loved rock music while her brother and Tamsin preferred jazz, rhythm and blues. Sometimes she teased Stacker and Tamsin by telling them that they were misplaced twins.

"More or less; besides it's your fault I'm listening to it for 'hundredth time' after-all you kept us waiting for exactly 32 minutes."

'Us' was the Number 101 Squadron of the Royal Air-Force.

The team was due to travel on RAF transport plane to a United States Enterprise aircraft carrier.

The carrier was then to dock near Vandenberg United States Air Force base which was to be the final destination of the RAF squadron.

Tamsin nodded. "Sorry about that; however I did arrive here at least 30 minutes before 'stated' departure time but due to our transport plane being diverted again...we will be picked up late!"

Luna's eyes narrowed. "You haven't actually told me how you know that."

Tamsin's expression became serious. "I had a little chat with the control tower and was told our transport was diverted due to an 'emergency' and that could I please inform you that the pilot will be at least half an hour late?"

Luna stared at her. "When the hell were you going to tell me that?"

"I just did," said Tamsin nonchalantly as she looked around the waiting room which had other pilots waiting. Some were standing and chatting; a few were listening on ipods or similar devices like Luna had been.

"We both know this is not the first time such 'delays' have happened and doesn't it bother you that we're going to be transported to an airforce base using a United States carrier ?"

Luna tried not to sigh; this same conversation had been had so many times.

"You know it does; that's why we're doing this."

The RAF had just recently put their newly redesigned and upgraded Typhoon fighter jets on a limited international market. As usual; the first pitch was to the United States Airforce.

At lot was riding on the sales of the Typhoon Mac 2 FX29 jets because the RAF was about to have a huge chunk of their funding disappear due to government cuts.

So to save money; instead of hosting the US pilots on a British base to train them; the RAF was sending a squadron via a US carrier to Vandenberg to train US pilots on the new jets.

All in an effort to save money.

"We're supposed to be on holiday," said Tamsin.

_Here we go again_ thought Luna.

"There will always be time for a holiday Tam; we can't risk going on one now only to come back and find out we have been discharged from duty."

Tamsin frowned. "Please; don't remind me."

That had happened to some of their friends in the army who had been discharged via email; a number of them had been serving in hostile regions when they got the distressing news.

Luna knew how frustrated Tamsin felt; when her commander had asked her if she could forfeit her holiday in order to train the US pilots, it had taken her a few moments to say yes.

She could see the writing on the wall; it was only too clear.

The government was making so many cuts that no section was safe

Luna dreaded seeing a letter or email stating that she was being let go; she lived to fly. There was nothing like it and she didn't know what she would do if she had to leave the RAF.

Suddenly a message tone singing 'Zombie' by 'The Cranberries' filled the air and interrupted her thoughts. Luna pulled her phone out and read the text.

Tamsin looked at the worry and guilt on her friend's face.

"What's wrong?"

Luna turned to her. "It's Stacks; he's wishing us a great holiday in the Maldives."

Tamsin stared at her. "You haven't told him about this?"

Luna had a guilty expression on her face. "It is classified training."

"He is a senior officer in the same airforce!"

Luna took a deep breath. "We both know that doesn't always mean he gets to know everything."

"Okay fine, I might accept that...but at least tell him we're not on holiday..."

"So that he gets more upset? He's got enough on his plate right now."

Tamsin fell silent because she knew Luna was right.

Luna's senior brother was Wing Commander Stacker Pentecost, one of the youngest in recent years and he was also fighting to prevent further cuts to the budget of the RAF.

Unfortunately it was an uphill battle which included too many trips to Westminster to explain to parliament how the cuts were hurting the airforce.

Stacker had been so relieved and happy for them when Luna and Tamsin told him they were going to Maldives on their leave which had been cancelled one too many times.

He had even stated that he wished he was coming with them just to get away from it all.

But the three of them knew that wasn't going to be possible.

Stacks would definitely blow his top if he found out that Luna and Tamsin's leaves had been cancelled once again just because of reduced funding.

"Well; I can tell you one thing...he's not going to be happy when he finds out," said the red-hair female pilot.

"Tell me about it," muttered Luna.

"Let's change this topic sis; before I get more depressed," she brought out her ipod "by the by; I have discovered a great new band."

Tamsin gave her a suspicious look. "Let me guess; more rock music?"

Luna laughed. "Listen first before you judge."

Tamsin raised her hands. "To me; they all sound the same."

"Not these guys; they are new, unique and have very solid lyrics."

"That's what you said about the last group you tried to introduce me to," said Tamsin dryly "okay; I'll bite. What are they called ?"

Luna's eyes twinkled as she put one earpiece in her right ear and the second one into Tamsin's left ear.

"Imagine Dragons and this song is called 'Radioactive'."

The two young female pilots listened to the song and in the end, Tamsin finally reluctantly agreed that the group were pretty good.

They listened to a couple more tracks before there was an announcement stating that their first transport had arrived.

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**Hi everyone; hope you like this. This idea has been rattling around in my brain for a few weeks now. There's more to come, just wanted to see what you all thought about it. The following chapters will be longer.**

**Please read and review.**

**I used a few websites and found out there is a real Typhoon FGR4 which is a single seater fighter jet used by the RAF.**

**The Typhoon Mac 2 FX29 is entirely fiction; it represents the new fighters Luna and Tamsin were training in or using to train potential buyers.**

**Have a great weekend everyone!**


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